|
|
Creative Commons
Education Dive
Trump signs coronavirus stimulus package, but higher ed leaders say it shortchanges sector
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf@jbeowulf
March 27 2020
UPDATE: March 27, 2020: President Donald Trump signed a $2.2 trillion
emergency aid package Friday afternoon meant to blunt the economic
fallout from the coronavirus. The U.S. House of Representatives passed
the measure earlier that day.
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Senate passed the package late Wednesday, but higher education
leaders say the roughly $14 billion it gives the sector falls far short
of what is needed to support institutions.
Of the money earmarked for higher ed, more than $1 billion is reserved
for historically black colleges and other minority-serving
institutions, many of which enroll a significant number of low-income
students.
The virus has plunged colleges into economic uncertainty, with funding
needed to move courses online and refund room, board and other fees.
Colleges are also concerned about their ability to fill fall classes.
Dive Insight:
The American Council on Education (ACE), which represents the nation's
colleges and universities, had pressed Congress to provide at least $50
billion in relief for students and institutions, ACE told other news
media.
As the virus and the respiratory disease it causes, COVID-19, spread
through the country, colleges moved classes and exams online and asked
students to vacate campus residence halls. Many institutions have
started to refund room, board and other fees, which have been key
funding streams for some institutions, Moody's Investors Service noted
in a report last week.
Some colleges have already felt the effects of revenue loss.
Institutions have announced staff layoffs. Quinnipiac University, in
Connecticut, said it would cut faculty and staff pay. Central
Washington University, a public college, declared financial exigency,
which allows colleges considered to be on the verge of a fiscal
disaster, such as a closure, to make drastic decisions like laying off
tenured faculty members.
Moody's downgraded its higher ed outlook from stable to negative
because of the pandemic, citing "unprecedented enrollment uncertainty"
for colleges. Admissions professionals have said it's unclear how
economic turmoil will affect both domestic and international enrollment.
ACE President Ted Mitchell slammed the Senate bill in a statement
Wednesday, calling it a "woefully inadequate" solution to higher ed's
financial needs.
The group requested funding to help pay for the new technology colleges
need as they shift to distance learning. It also asked for emergency
funding for institutions and their students, some of which it said
could be disbursed through the Pell Grant system.
The Senate's package, which the House approved, directs that half of
funding given to colleges be passed along to students to help defray
expenses related to the coronavirus, including food, housing, course
materials, technology, health care and child care.
Mitchell complimented Congress for recognizing the "unprecedented cash
flow crisis" the coronavirus has caused, and for the new flexibility in
paying back student loans the bill grants. However, he said, the
funding "is far below what is required to respond to the financial
disaster confronting them."
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities released a
similarly mixed statement Wednesday. In it, its president, Peter
McPherson, said the bill did not address problems in a prior emergency
relief package signed into law last week, which required public
institutions to offer extended paid leave. Unlike the private sector,
public institutions were excluded from a federal tax credit to help
cover the costs.
UNCF, the HBCU advocacy group that has been lobbying lawmakers for
emergency funding, lauded the bill prior to its passage in the Senate,
saying it was "happy Congress swiftly delivered" on critical aid.
|
|
|
|
